The present invention relates to an apparatus for use in the construction of homes and buildings wherein a floor vent may be covered to prevent debris from entering the vent during construction, but selectively opened to allow the passage of air flow, such as heating or cooling air, as desired during construction.
There has been a need in the field of construction to prevent debris from entering floor vents. This debris may be various types of objects including saw dust, small pieces of wood, pieces of dry wall, dirt, nails and various other debris generated during the construction process. This debris falls down into the floor vent and often times ends up in a portion of the duct where it could congest the duct and the floor vent. Such floor vents are difficult to clean out, and are often not adequately cleaned prior to the completion of the construction. Very often, air deflectors are placed over the vents and the debris remains in the vents.
Recently, this problem has been addressed by Karnes in U.S. Pat. No. 6,196,597 B1 wherein Karnes discloses a relatively complicated heating duct structure which includes a floor mounted elbow boot which is equipped with a removable plastic cover to prevent dust, dirt and debris from accumulating in the installed heating duct during finish construction of the building. However, this requires an expensive especially made floor mounted elbow boot which is equipped with this special duct cover. It is only available with the particular duct. It requires the molding of a particular plastic cover to exactly fit the particular duct.
The present invention provides numerous advantages including the fact that it is a relatively inexpensive item which may be used and disposed of after a single use. However, alternatively, the openable screened floor vent cover of the present invention may be reused on multiple occasions if so desired.
Briefly and basically, the present invention comprises an apparatus which includes a board having a length and a width larger than the vent to be covered. The board is provided with a first and a second surface with a screen secured to the periphery of the first surface of the board. The board is provided with a cut substantially in the shape and size of the vent to be covered. In use, the periphery of the board with the screen attached thereto is secured to the subfloor surrounding a vent during construction and the portion of the board within the cut is selectively removable to enable air flow from the vent as desired.
In a presently preferred embodiment, the board may be comprised of cardboard and preferably provided with a foil covering. However, it is understood that other suitable rigid and semi-rigid materials may be utilized to construct the board including wood or composite manufactured materials. Preferably, the screening may be stapled to the cardboard, or it may be applied adhesively or by any other type of fastener.
In a presently preferred embodiment, the cut in the shape of the vent is provided with tabs or indents to make removal of the central portion of the board easier. In an alternative embodiment, which is presently preferred, a second board element may be mounted about the periphery of the first board element and secured to the first surface of the first board and the intervening portion of the screen.